National media hone in on race in Detroit mayoral election

Mayoral candidates Mike Duggan, left, and Benny Napoleon speak at the Detroit Economic Club on Oct. 23, 2013 in one of three public forums in which the two faced each other ahead of the Nov. 5 general election.(AP files/Paul Sancya)

DETROIT, MI -- The fact that race, for many Detroit voters, isn't a factor in Tuesday's mayoral election, is getting national attention this week as an historic development.

Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon continues to fight hard to make gains in the race, pushing a neighborhood growth plan and announcing endorsements from school board members Monday.

"It is an unlikely story for an 83 percent black city that stood at the forefront of African American political power when Coleman Young became Detroit’s first black mayor in 1974," reports the Washington Post.

“But there is a feeling of total disgust among voters about what has happened to Detroit, and there is a willingness to reach out to the most prominent life preserver," he said. "And that is Mike Duggan, based on his reputation as a Mr. Fix-It. And Detroit is desperate for a Mr. Fix-It.”

“We don’t need a campaign about race," Rev. Jim Holley of the Historic Little Rock Baptist Church told the Monitor. "We don’t need one that talks about ethnicity. We don’t need to talk about anything other than who is qualified to really get this city out of debt so we can move forward."